In modern day construction, a digital presence is an easy way for a potential customer to feel comfortable with a contractor’s specialty. This match-making scenario becomes challenging when there are countless resources providing the exact service all listed on a search engine’s output. Without a budget for ad campaigns and paid ranking opportunities, many contractors feel helpless in the vast sea of large firms “paying to play.” Fortunately, there are options. Enter blogging.

Chances are you’ve been acquainted with the most popular search engine, Google. Although it’s frequently pumping out updates to the way its algorithms react to users’ keywords, tapping into Google ranking through cost-effective means isn’t a far-off goal. In fact, it’s a pretty solid game changer for contractors willing to put the proper tools in place.

BLOGGING = GAINING COVETED GOOGLE EXPOSURE

Through strategic keyword usage and variation in blogs, contractors can build thought leadership while enhancing their Google ranking – becoming visible to potential clients before the competition. To build on both HTML (Hypertext Markup Language – aka website coding) and site copy keyword usage, blogging is a great outlet to also gain visibility while creating content for your firm’s social channels.

With the large investment that construction commonly represents for today’s owners, it’s important to trust the credibility and reputation of a well-known contractor. Blogging is an easy way to do this without shoving information down a potential customer’s throat.

A contractor is able to use several free resources from Google to understand what keywords are bringing users to its site to supplement the development of a blog with the goal of search engine optimization (SEO). Tools such as Google Analytics allow users to look at competitor data, identify sources of traffic, and target how users behave on a website..

This is where the connection to hard dollars can be made. By creating a measurement framework of business objectives tied to online tactics with key performance indicators, conversions become reality. Through practice and tight attention towards user interactions, a blog is a great avenue to gain traction on a website that leads to informed, engaged user impressions. Monitoring what areas are appealing to your audience allow you to get better at achieving whichever goal you set, whether it be directing traffic to a landing page for brochure downloads, or completion of a ‘contact us’ form.

As you grow your blogging capacity and strategy, opportunities for guest blogging and content collaboration with all become additional ways to increase the span of your digital presence, and eventually the conversions that stem from it. Backlinking (placing a link on another website that points back to your own website) with good quality and a measurable quantity of outlets, can eventually build a diverse link profile to eventually allow your website to be viewed positively by search engines. These backlinks can live in a bio within a guest blog, press content, social media posts, advertisements, and other channels that can amplify a digital presence without being at a “spam” level.

CASE STUDY: THEORY IN APPLICATION

Through blogging 2 to 3 times a week, general contractor and construction manager JH Greene & Son has made its mark on a very saturated Mid-Atlantic construction market. From observing the above-mentioned tactics, many business owners searching for a local resource were able to drill down on the best-suited option and find JH Greene among a vast sea of competitors. At least one new opportunity a month is introduced through clients who have shared that they have discovered the JH Greene team through a Google search.

As much as it would be wonderful if this were an easy goal – it requires a lot of dedication and resources to produce the level of content needed to reach the point of becoming discovered. It has taken JH Greene about 2.5 years of constant organic SEO and content marketing to achieve conversion goals from Google.

It’s no light undertaking – but in the long-run it pays off.

DON’T HAVE THE RESOURCES? NOT AN ISSUE

As a general contractor, JH Greene is somewhat of a rarity to have this type of resource in-house. There are countless inexpensive consultants and a la carte blog producers who will generate some keyword-dense content that will work hard for any brand. When writing feels like pulling teeth, having a content partner allows business owners and executives to focus on what’s most important – their business.